Tarpley named First Tee Participant of the MonthCommunity Service, Inc. (CSI) named Alex Tarpley the First Tee Participant of the Month for February. Tarpley is the son Blake and Amy of Russellville and attends Center Valley Elementary School. Tarpley recently passed both the life skills and golf skills written test and demonstrated those skills on the golf course through regular weekly classes. "I'm very proud of the work that Alex has shown both on and off the course," said Sam Taylor, CS...

Anderson wins three at state gymnasticsLITTLE ROCK — Haley Anderson of London won the Arkansas State Gymnastics 14-Plus Division All-Around State Title at the Jack Stevens Center at the University of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR) recently. Anderson also won state titles in the vault and beam divisions and medaled for her floor routine. Anderson's gymnastics career has spanned over nine years and has been with Didion Athletics of Van Buren for the last year-and-a-half. Anderson, a hom...

RYBA holds annual tryoutsThe Russellville Youth Baseball Association (RYBA) conducted its annual tryouts inside the Gardner Indoor Practice Facility on Thursday. RYBA is a little league baseball program for kids ages 4-14 in Russellville and surrounding areas. RYBA director Chad Bartlett said the tryouts have been a tradition for several years. “We call it a tryout, but it’s not really,” he said. “Everyone will make a team. Everyone will get to play. This is just a go...

River Valley Wrestling places third at stateThe River Valley Boys and Girls Club had 19 wrestlers compete in the Arkansas Youth State Wrestling Championship on Saturday in Rogers. The River Valley Wrestling team finished third out of 15 teams in the 20-and-under club entry category. The team had four individual state champions. Zach Snook won the Division-5, 165-pound title. Cole Hathcote won the Division-4, 130-pound title. Ethyn Gibson won the Division-3, 85-pound title and Trenton Re...

Daily family tradition strong at RHSFormer Russellville Cyclones head coach Don Daily had plenty to cheer for during the championship game of the Cyclone Classic — even though the Cyclones missed their chance to play for the title. Daily’s grandson, Stefan Daily, became the seventh member of the Daily family to play inside a Cyclones’ gymnasium. Stefan did it as a member of the Lake Hamilton Wolves, and helped his team defeat Sylvan Hills to win the Cyclone Classic on Dec. 12. T...

RV Heat teaches life and basketball fundamentalsLooking back, Gaylen Scott would say God has always led him to coaching — even if he didn’t recognize it right away. It began with coaching at the Boys and Girls Club of the Arkansas River Valley and led to teaching kids about life through basketball through the River Valley Heat competitive travel basketball team. Scott said he blends lessons about life and faith with basketball fundamentals in his efforts to reach and change the lives of you...

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Courier Staff ReportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Davis: coach, wrestling pioneerNearly two decades ago, volunteer coach Terry Davis wanted his group of kids to see what wrestling was really like. He rented a passenger van and drove his young wrestlers and fellow volunteers to Stillwater, Okla., to watch Oklahoma State wrestle the University of Oklahoma. Davis then took the group to the nearby National Wrestling Hall of Fame, where he looked on a wall with a list of states that offered wrestling. Only Mississippi and Arkan...

Sand Lizards shut out BoonevilleDARDANELLE — The Booneville Bearcats’ 16-game win streak ended at Keenan Field on Friday as the Dardanelle Sand Lizards snagged a 28-0 victory over last year’s Class 4A state championship team. Booneville (1-1) moved to class 3A before the 2014 season, but that didn’t stop Dardanelle (2-0) from taking the Bearcats seriously. Booneville beat the Sand Lizards 42-0 last year, after all, with all 42 points coming before halftime. Dardanelle head c...

Unified Whirlwinds fall at homeThe Russellville Whirlwinds’ 48-28 loss to the North Little Rock Wildcats on Thursday at Cyclone Stadium stung. Not only was it the team’s home opener, it was their first home game as a unified team. It was a shame, Whirlwinds (0-1-1) head coach Dean Norsworthy said after the game. The team didn’t seem to understand the level of competition they’d be facing in their new conference. “Raise your hand if you think we could have had a better week ...

RJHS ties MorriltonMORRILTON — The Russellville Junior High Whirlwinds lost control of a 28-8 lead in the third quarter and was forced to settle for a 28-28 tie on the very last play of Thursday night’s game against the Morrilton Devil Pups at Devil Dog Stadium. Morrilton (0-0-1) came back by recovering three onside kicks which all eventually led to touchdowns. “It was real disappointing,” Whirlwinds head coach Dean Norsworthy said. “I should have made some chan...

Danville slips past Junior Sand LizardsDARDANELLE — The Danville Junior Little Johns made the Dardanelle Junior Sand Lizards pay for each and every mistake they made Thursday at Keenan Field. Danville took advantage of an interception and two fumbles en route to a 16-8 victory. Dardanelle controlled the clock in the first half – but not the scoreboard. The Junior Sand Lizards ate up half the first quarter and all but 4:40 of the second on two fruitless drives that totaled over 15 p...

Former Hog Joe Kleine to speak at Boys and Girls ClubFifteen-year NBA veteran and Olympic gold medalist Joe Kleine will speak at the Standing Ovations event held at the Arkansas Boys and Girls Club on Thursday in Russellville. Kleine, who was the No. 6 overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, has been coaching at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock (UALR) for eight years. Kleine is a two-time All-Southwest Conference selection from the University of Arkansas and won an NBA Championship with the...

Russellville football to hold scrimmageThe Russellville football program will host its annual Red and Black Scrimmage on Thursday at Cyclone Stadium. The event offers fans and coaching staff alike a chance to see the Russellville football program in its entirety, as the Middle School Gales will take the field at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Junior High Whirlwinds at 6:15 and the Cyclones at 7. Entry fee is $4 per adult and $3 for students, with current Russellville football booster c...

Pirates, Lady Apaches golf win in DardanelleDARDANELLE — The Pottsville Lady Apaches golf team won match Thursday at the Lion's Den Golf Club in Dardanelle against Dover, Dardanelle, Atkins and Lamar. Julianna Harper of Dardanelle was the overall winner with a score of 39, but Pottsville totaled for 152 to win the tournament. Dover placed second with a team score of 157. Other team leaders for the Lady Apaches were Cheyenne Carillo with 46, Krissy Davis with 49 and Britney Heflin with 5...

Dream Team prepares for upcoming seasonPOTTSVILLE — Despite promising his grandmother that he never would, David “Diamond Dream” Beck finally shaved off his traditional mohawk prior to Dream Team Boxing’s ninth season of amateur USA Boxing sanctioned competition. He didn’t want the way he looks to be a distraction for those who might be interested in his program. “I think the mohawk held the kids back,” he said. “Because a lot of people judge based on what they see rather than what...

Two Sarahs better than oneWhen Chris Cloud informed me that he had secured the winning bid for the kids fishing trip with me from our annual RussVegas coaches fundraiser, I instantly knew that whatever trip we went on was going to be a fun one. Once he and daughter Sarah Cloud asked me if Sarah Posey could tag along with us, I knew the entertainment level was definitely going up. You see both of these fine young ladies played basketball for me this past season and even...

Local Scouts win national White River canoe raceThe Russellville Venture Crew 300, a co-ed division of the Boy Scouts of America, recently won the 2014 White River Canoe Race. The three-day, 120-mile race is the Boy Scouts of America national championship and has taken place annually for the last 48 years. “It’s a pretty big event in scouting,” boys team coach Steve Lynn said. “We’ve been trying to win that race for the last four years, but the team from Bogalusa, Lousiana has been the pere...

Sand Lizards to host peewee football campDARDANELLE — Sand Lizards head coach Josh Price wants to get kids interested in the Dardanelle football program at an early age. Not only will the Dardanelle peewee football camp be a chance for Price to attract new players, it’ll be a chance for both coaches and players to put names with faces. “It kind of builds a little common ground between us and the younger kids,” Price said. “We don’t necessarily scout them, but we can match a name with...